2 Answers
2

since you're on Windows, you can try to recover the files by using a file recovery application such as Recuva from Piriform.

I very much doubt that the files are totally gone though if you were only trying to make a bootable USB and you would have been offered the choice of whether to wipe your hard drive by the Ubuntu installer.

Try booting a Live Linux CD such as Ubuntu which you already have. If you're not seeing files on your Sony hard drive don't panic, give Recuva a chance to recover all your files.

Last resort is running your Sony recovery discs but at the expense of losing your precious files. Google some more and never forget to make back-ups. It's the golden rule of computing - make a backup-up of a back-up of a back-up.

You may be able to mount the Windows partition from within Ubuntu if it hasn't been overwitten. This has no bearing on the MBR and can be done as follows:

Boot the USB drive and select "Try Ubuntu". Open the icon to the Home folder at the left, and in the left pane of the windows which opens, select what you presume to be your Windows partiton. If it indeed is the Windows partition, it will contain (but not be limited to) these folders:

Windows

Program Files

and also either users or Documents and settings. Gi onto Users if it exists; if not, Documents and settings

Enter the account under which the pictures were stored, and navigate to the correct directory. (This depends on where you put them). Now, mount your old Ubuntu partition in a new window(Ctrl+N), not called File System, but something like ### GB Filesystem, and enter the home directory. Then, go into your username, and copy from the old window to the new window via drag-and-drop, or Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V. You may also copy them onto a different flash drive, or use the CD burning tools to make a CD. Again, create backups regularly!